Babel
American novelist, born 1996. Won the British Book Awards: Fiction Book of the Year in 2023 and 2024.
Babel is a 2022 novel by R. F. Kuang. It won the British Book Awards' Fiction Book of the Year in 2023.
In fantasy
On 2 of the 12 lists it was eligible for.
The Novel Index earns a small commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our rankings. More about how we earn.
At a glance
- Author
- R. F. Kuang
- First published
- 2022
- Length
- 560 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- British Book Awards Fiction winner, 2023
- Genre
- Fantasy, Empire and colonialism, Political
Is Babel worth reading?
2 of the 12 best-of lists it could have made include it: the British Book Awards' Fiction Book of the Year and Waterstones Book of the Year (winners and shortlists).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| British Book Awards: Fiction Book of the Year (winners and shortlists) (The Bookseller, 2023) | Winner | See the list |
| Waterstones Book of the Year (winners and shortlists) (Waterstones, 2012-) | Shortlist | See the list |
Best edition of Babel
The edition we link to is the HarperVoyager paperback (2023), 560 pages.
- Publisher
- HarperVoyager (paperback, 2023)
- Pages
- 560
- ISBN
- 9780008501853
How critics, prizes and readers rate Babel
Prize juries and readers rate it about equally: it earned 20% on prize lists and 20% on readers' and booksellers' lists, against 0% on critics' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like Babel
If you liked Babel, try Yellowface, Cloud Atlas or The Stand.
